Raedwald of East Anglia
Encyclopedia
Rædwald; also Raedwald or Redwald, (died around 624) was a 7th century king of East Anglia, a long-lived Anglo-Saxon
kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk
and Suffolk
. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia
and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty (named after his grandfather, Wuffa
), who were the first rulers of the East Angles. Details of Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking
invasions of the ninth century destroyed the monasteries
in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. He reigned from about 599 until his death, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria
, he was able to install Edwin
, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria
. In the battle both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere, were killed.
From around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the River Humber
. According to Bede
he was the fourth ruler to hold imperium over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
, written centuries after his death, as a bretwalda
(an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler') . He was the first king of the East Angles to become a Christian, being converted to Christianity
at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, whilst at the same time maintaining a pagan temple. In receiving the faith he helped to ensure the survival of Christianity in East Anglia during the apostasy
of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex
and Kent
. He is generally considered by historians to be the most favoured candidate for the occupant of the Sutton Hoo
ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced. Rædwald died at some point in the mid-620s, perhaps in 624.
has suggested that the reason for the paucity of East Anglian sources was almost certainly the Viking expansion
in the ninth century, and that the monks and scribes
of East Anglia produced as much work as those living in other parts of England. The devastation in East Anglia that was caused by the Vikings is thought to have destroyed the books or charters
that may have been kept there.
Rædwald is the first king of the East Angles of whom more than a name is known. No details of his life before his accession are known. The earliest and most substantial source for Rædwald is the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
(Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in 731 by Bede
, a Northumbrian monk. Bede placed Rædwald's reign between the advent of the Gregorian mission
to Kent
in 597 and the marriage and conversion of Edwin of Northumbria
during 625–26.
Later mediaeval chronicle
rs, such as Roger of Wendover
, gave information about East Anglian events, but Yorke suggests that the annalistic format used at the time forced these writers to guess the dates of key events. Such later sources are therefore treated with caution. The Anglian collection
, which dates from the late eighth century, contains an East Anglian genealogical tally, but it does not include Rædwald. Rædwald is however referred to in the 8th century Vita of St Gregory the Great
, written by a member of the religious community at Whitby
. The Battle of the River Idle, in which Rædwald and his forces defeated the Northumbrians, is described in the twelfth century Historia Anglorum, written by Henry of Huntingdon
.
was almost entirely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons
. These peoples, who are known to have included Angles
, Saxons
, Jutes
and Frisians
, began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories.
During Rædwald's youth, the establishment of other ruling houses was accomplished. Sometime before 588, Æthelberht of Kent married Bercta
, the Christian daughter of the Frankish
ruler Charibert. As early as 568, Ceawlin of Wessex
, the most powerful ruler south of the River Humber, repulsed Æthelberht. According to later sources, Mercia
was founded by Creoda
in 585, although a paucity of sources makes it difficult to know how the Mercian royal line became established.
North of the Humber, the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia possessed rival royal dynasties. Ælla ruled Deira until his death in 588, leaving his daughter Acha, his son Edwin
and another unknown sibling. The Bernician dynasty, allied by kinship to the Kingdom of Wessex
, then gained ascendancy over Deira and Edwin was forced to live in exile in the court of Cadfan ap Iago
of Gwynedd
. In various wars Æthelfrith of Bernicia
consolidated the Northumbrian state, and in around 604 he was able to bring Deira under his dominion.
, whom he succeeded, he was the elder brother of Eni
. According to Bede
, he was descended from Wuffa of East Anglia
, the founder of the Wuffing
dynasty: ' filius Tytili, cuius pater fuit UUffa ('the son of Tytil, whose father was Wuffa').
At some time during the 590s Rædwald married a woman whose name is unknown, though it is known from Bede that she was pagan. By her he fathered at least two sons, Rægenhere and his younger brother Eorpwald
. He also had an older son, Sigeberht, whose name is unlike other Wuffing names, but is typical of the East Saxon dynasty
. It has been suggested that Rædwald's queen had previously been married to a member of the Essex royal family and that Sigeberht was Rædwald's stepson, as was stated by William of Malmesbury
in the 12th century. Sigeberht earned the enmity of Rædwald, who drove him into exile in Gaul
, possibly to protect his own bloodline.
and his mission from Rome in 597, the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Saeberht of Essex and the establishment of new bishoprics in their kingdoms. Bede, when relating the conversion of Rædwald's son Eorpwald
in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, mentioned that Rædwald received the Christian sacraments in Kent. This happened in perhaps 604 or later, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht, who may have been his baptismal sponsor. The date of his conversion is not known, but it will have occurred after the arrival in Kent of the Gregorian mission
in 597: since it is claimed that Saint Augustine (who died in about 605) dedicated a church near Ely
, it may have followed Saebert's conversion fairly swiftly. Rædwald's marriage to a member of the royal dynasty of Essex helped form a diplomatic alliance between the neigbouring kingdoms of East Anglia and Essex and his conversion in Kent would have affiliated him with Æthelberht, so bringing him directly into the sphere of Kent.
In East Anglia, Rædwald's conversion was not universally accepted by his household or his own queen. According to the historian Steven Plunkett, she and her pagan teachers persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to the Christian faith. As a result, he kept in the temple two altars, one being pagan and the second one dedicated to Christ. Bede, writing decades later, described how Ealdwulf of East Anglia
, a grandson of Rædwald's brother Eni, recalled seeing the temple when he was a boy. The temple was located at Rendlesham, the regio of the Wuffing dynasty, according to Plunkett. Barbara Yorke explains the dual nature of the temple by suggesting that Rædwald would not have been prepared to reject his old religion and fully embrace Christianity, because this act would have been a public acknowledgment of his inferiority to Æthelberht. Rædwald's lack of commitment towards Christianity earned him the enmity of Bede as a renouncer of his faith.
in an attempt to destroy him, in that way ensuring that the Bernician rulership of Northumbria would be unchallenged. Edwin found hospitality in the household of Cearl of Mercia
and at a later date married Cearl's daughter. Edwin's nephew Hereric, an exile in the British kingdom of Elmet
, was slain there under treacherous circumstances. Edwin eventually sought the protection of Rædwald in East Anglia, where he was received willingly. Rædwald promised to protect him and Edwin lived with the king amongst his royal companions. When news of Edwin reached Æthelfrith, he sent messengers to Rædwald offering money in return for Edwin's death, but Rædwald refused to comply. Æthelfrith sent messengers a second and a third time, offering even greater gifts of silver and promising war if these were not accepted. Rædwald then weakened and promised either to kill Edwin or hand him over to ambassadors.
Edwin remained at Rædwald's court when the chance arose for him to escape to a safe country. He was then visited by a stranger who was aware of Rædwald's deliberations. The source for this story, written at Whitby
, stated that the stranger was Paulinus of York
, a member of the Canterbury mission, who offered Edwin the hope of Rædwald's support and held out the prospect that Edwin might someday attain greater royal power than any previous English king. Paulinus was assured by Edwin that he would accept his religious teaching. His vision of Paulinus was afterwards made the means of his decision to embrace Christianity, on the condition that he survived and achieved power. If, as is supposed by some, Paulinus appeared to him in the flesh, the bishop's presence at Rædwald's court would throw some light on the king's position as regards religion.
Rædwald's pagan queen admonished him for acting in a manner dishonourable for a king by betraying his trust for the sake of money and wanting to sell his imperilled friend for gold. Once Æthelfrith's ambassadors had gone, Rædwald resolved on war.
, on the east bank of the River Idle
. The battle was fierce and was long commemorated in the saying, ‘The river Idle was foul with the blood of Englishmen’. During the fighting, Æthelfrith and Rægenhere were both slain. Edwin then succeeded Æthelfrith as the king of Northumbria and Æthelfrith's sons were subsequently forced into exile.
A separate account of the battle, given by Henry of Huntingdon
, stated that Rædwald's army was split into three formations, led by Rædwald, Rægenhere and Edwin. With more experienced fighters, Æthelfrith attacked in loose formation. At the sight of Rægenhere, perhaps thinking he was Edwin, Æthelfrith's men cut their way through to him and slew him. After the death of his son, Rædwald furiously breached his lines and killed Æthelfrith amid a great slaughter of the Northumbrians.
D.P. Kirby has argued that the battle was more than a clash between two kings over the treatment of an exiled nobleman, but was "part of a protracted struggle to determine the military and political leadership of the Anglian peoples" at that time.
On 24 February 616, the year of the Battle of the River Idle, Æthelberht of Kent died and was succeeded by his pagan son Eadbald
. After the death of the Christian Saebert of Essex
, his three sons shared the kingdom, returning it to pagan rule, and drove out the Gregorian missionaries led by Mellitus
. The Canterbury mission had removed to Gaul before Eadbald was brought back into the fold. During this period the only royal Christian altar in England belonged to Rædwald. By the time of his death, the mission in Kent had been fully re-established.
Rædwald's power became great enough for Bede to recognise him as the successor to the imperium of Æthelberht. Bede also called him Rex Anglorum, the 'King of the Angles', a term that Rædwald's contemporaries would have used for their overlord. It is unclear where his power was centred, or even how he established his authority over the Angles of eastern England.
By Edwin's debt of allegiance to him, Rædwald became the first foreign king to hold direct influence in Northumbria. He would have been instrumental in Edwin's secure establishment as king of both Diera and Bernicia.
) became an important estuarine trading centre, receiving imported goods such as pottery from other trading markets situated around the coasts of the North Sea
. Steven Plunkett suggests that the founding of Gipeswic took place under Wuffing supervision. It took another hundred years for the settlement to develop into a town, but its beginnings can be seen as a reflection of the personal importance of Rædwald during the period of his supremacy.
The excavated grave-goods of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery
at Gipeswic, including those found in burials under small barrows, were not particularly wealthy or elaborate. They lacked the strong characterization of a neighbouring late sixth century cemetery at a higher crossing of the river. One exception was a furnished grave that it has been suggested could have been that of a visitor from the Rhineland
.
became bishop of Northumbria in 625. His death is recorded twice by Roger of Wendover
, in 599 and in 624, in a history that dates from the thirteenth century, but appears to include earlier annals of unknown origin and reliability. Plunkett notes that the earlier date of 599 is now taken as a mistaken reference to the death of Rædwald’s father, Tytila, and the latter date is commonly given as Rædwald’s own date of death.
He was succeeded by his pagan son Eorpwald
, who was later persuaded to adopt Christianity by Edwin of Northumbria.
Rædwald lived at a time when eminent individuals were buried in barrows
at the cemetery at Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge
in Suffolk. There, large mounds—which were originally much higher and more visible—can still be seen, overlooking the upper estuary of the River Deben
.
In 1939, a mound at Sutton Hoo, now known as Mound 1, was discovered to contain an Anglo-Saxon burial of unparalleled richness. The mound enclosed a ship, 27 metres (88.6 ft) long, which had seen use on the seas and had been repaired. In the centre of the ship was a chamber which contained a remarkable assemblage of jewellery and other rich grave goods, including silver bowls, drinking vessels, clothing and weaponry. One unusual item was a large 'sceptre
' in the form of a whetstone
, that showed no sign of previous use as a tool: it has been suggested that this was a symbol of the office of bretwalda. The gold and garnet body-equipment found with the other goods was produced for a patron who employed a goldsmith
the equal or better than any in Europe and was designed to project an image of imperial power. The Mediterranean silverware in the grave is a unique assemblage for its period in Europe.
The magnificence of the objects, both the personal possessions and those items designed to denote the authority of the dead individual, point to the burial of a person connected with the royal court, according to Rupert Bruce-Mitford
, who regards the burial was "very likely the monument of the High King or bretwalda Raedwald". Yorke suggests that the treasures buried with the ship reflect the size of the tribute paid to Rædwald by subject kings during his period as bretwalda. Bruce-Mitford has suggested that the inclusion of bowls and spoons amongst the treasures fits with Bede's account of Raedwald's conversion: the spoons may have been a present for a convert from paganism and the bowls had Christian significance. Coins found in the burial have been dated to the 620s and the date of Rædwald’s death, though uncertain, is known to be in the mid-620s, but recent dating work on the coins had indicated that some of them date to the period 626–629, which is later than the currently accepted date for Rædwald's death. The doubt surrounding the identity of the buried man is reflected by McClure and Collins, who have commented on the 'almost non-existent' evidence for the assumption that the occupant of Mound 1 was Raedwald.
Other suggestions as candidates for the burial at Sutton Hoo include other East Anglian kings or a prestigious foreign visitor. There are alternative explanations: the grave may be that of a wealthy status-seeker, rather than a king, though Rendlesham, a known residence of the East Anglian kings, is only 4 miles away.
Swedish
cultural influence has been detected at Sutton Hoo: there are strong similarities in both the armour and the burial with Vendel-age finds from Sweden. Bruce-Mitford suggested that the connection is close enough to imply that the Wuffing
dynasty came from that part of Scandinavia. There are also significant differences, and exact parallels with the workmanship and style of the Sutton Hoo artefacts cannot be found elsewhere: as a result the connection is generally regarded as unproven.
Secondary sources
Attribution
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
and Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia
Tytila of East Anglia
Tytila was a pagan king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Early sources, including Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, identify him as a member of the Wuffingas dynasty...
and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty (named after his grandfather, Wuffa
Wuffa of East Anglia
Wuffa is supposed to have ruled the East Angles from c. 571 to c. 578. East Anglia was a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk....
), who were the first rulers of the East Angles. Details of Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
invasions of the ninth century destroyed the monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. He reigned from about 599 until his death, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
, he was able to install Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. In the battle both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere, were killed.
From around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the River Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
. According to Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
he was the fourth ruler to hold imperium over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, written centuries after his death, as a bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
(an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler') . He was the first king of the East Angles to become a Christian, being converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, whilst at the same time maintaining a pagan temple. In receiving the faith he helped to ensure the survival of Christianity in East Anglia during the apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
and Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
. He is generally considered by historians to be the most favoured candidate for the occupant of the Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced. Rædwald died at some point in the mid-620s, perhaps in 624.
Sources
Few sources have survived that were written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, and East Anglia has even less documentary evidence than most of the kingdoms that existed at that time. The historian Barbara YorkeBarbara Yorke
Barbara Yorke is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England.She studied history and archaeology at Exeter University, where she completed both her undergraduate degree and her Ph.D. She is currently Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Winchester, and is a Fellow of the Royal...
has suggested that the reason for the paucity of East Anglian sources was almost certainly the Viking expansion
Viking expansion
The Vikings sailed most of the North Atlantic, reaching south to North Africa and east to Russia, Constantinople and the Middle East, as looters, traders, colonists, and mercenaries...
in the ninth century, and that the monks and scribes
Scribes
Scribes is a minimalist and extensible text editor for GNOME that combines simplicity with power. Scribes focuses on ways workflow and productivity can be intelligently automated and radically improved...
of East Anglia produced as much work as those living in other parts of England. The devastation in East Anglia that was caused by the Vikings is thought to have destroyed the books or charters
Charters
Charters is a surname and may refer to :* Ann Charters , American professor of English* Charlie Charters , former English rugby union official and sports marketing executive* Frank Charters, , English cricketer...
that may have been kept there.
Rædwald is the first king of the East Angles of whom more than a name is known. No details of his life before his accession are known. The earliest and most substantial source for Rædwald is the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
(Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in 731 by Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, a Northumbrian monk. Bede placed Rædwald's reign between the advent of the Gregorian mission
Gregorian mission
The Gregorian mission, sometimes known as the Augustinian mission, was the missionary endeavour sent by Pope Gregory the Great to the Anglo-Saxons in 596 AD. Headed by Augustine of Canterbury, its goal was to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. By the death of the last missionary in 653, they...
to Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
in 597 and the marriage and conversion of Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
during 625–26.
Later mediaeval chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
rs, such as Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...
, gave information about East Anglian events, but Yorke suggests that the annalistic format used at the time forced these writers to guess the dates of key events. Such later sources are therefore treated with caution. The Anglian collection
Anglian collection
The Anglian collection is a collection of Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies and regnal lists. These survive in four manuscripts; two of which now reside in the British Library...
, which dates from the late eighth century, contains an East Anglian genealogical tally, but it does not include Rædwald. Rædwald is however referred to in the 8th century Vita of St Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
, written by a member of the religious community at Whitby
Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII...
. The Battle of the River Idle, in which Rædwald and his forces defeated the Northumbrians, is described in the twelfth century Historia Anglorum, written by Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...
.
The context of Rædwald's kingdom
By the beginning of the 7th century, southern EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was almost entirely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
. These peoples, who are known to have included Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
, Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
and Frisians
Frisii
The Frisii were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland...
, began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories.
During Rædwald's youth, the establishment of other ruling houses was accomplished. Sometime before 588, Æthelberht of Kent married Bercta
Bertha of Kent
Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...
, the Christian daughter of the Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
ruler Charibert. As early as 568, Ceawlin of Wessex
Ceawlin of Wessex
Ceawlin was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons to come to the land which later became Wessex...
, the most powerful ruler south of the River Humber, repulsed Æthelberht. According to later sources, Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
was founded by Creoda
Creoda of Mercia
Creoda was the first monarch of Mercia, reigning from 584 to 593.Creoda is recorded as having been the son of Cynewald, the grandson of Cnebba, and the great-grandson of Icel; consequently, members of the Mercian royal line were known as Iclingas...
in 585, although a paucity of sources makes it difficult to know how the Mercian royal line became established.
North of the Humber, the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia possessed rival royal dynasties. Ælla ruled Deira until his death in 588, leaving his daughter Acha, his son Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
and another unknown sibling. The Bernician dynasty, allied by kinship to the Kingdom of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
, then gained ascendancy over Deira and Edwin was forced to live in exile in the court of Cadfan ap Iago
Cadfan ap Iago
Cadfan ap Iago was King of Gwynedd . Little is known of the history of Gwynedd from this period, and information about Cadfan and his reign is minimal....
of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
. In various wars Æthelfrith of Bernicia
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
consolidated the Northumbrian state, and in around 604 he was able to bring Deira under his dominion.
Family
Rædwald, which in Old English means 'power in counsel', was born around 560–580. The son of Tytila of East AngliaTytila of East Anglia
Tytila was a pagan king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Early sources, including Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, identify him as a member of the Wuffingas dynasty...
, whom he succeeded, he was the elder brother of Eni
Eni of East Anglia
Eni or Ennius was a member of the Wuffing family, the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of East Anglia. He was the son of Tyttla and brother of Raedwald, both kings of East Anglia.There is no historical evidence that Eni ever ruled the East Angles himself...
. According to Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, he was descended from Wuffa of East Anglia
Wuffa of East Anglia
Wuffa is supposed to have ruled the East Angles from c. 571 to c. 578. East Anglia was a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk....
, the founder of the Wuffing
Wuffing
The Wuffingas were the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. It has been argued that the Wuffingas may have originated...
dynasty: ' filius Tytili, cuius pater fuit UUffa ('the son of Tytil, whose father was Wuffa').
At some time during the 590s Rædwald married a woman whose name is unknown, though it is known from Bede that she was pagan. By her he fathered at least two sons, Rægenhere and his younger brother Eorpwald
Eorpwald of East Anglia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, , succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles...
. He also had an older son, Sigeberht, whose name is unlike other Wuffing names, but is typical of the East Saxon dynasty
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
. It has been suggested that Rædwald's queen had previously been married to a member of the Essex royal family and that Sigeberht was Rædwald's stepson, as was stated by William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
in the 12th century. Sigeberht earned the enmity of Rædwald, who drove him into exile in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, possibly to protect his own bloodline.
Early reign and baptism
Events of the early years of Rædwald's reign included the arrival of Augustine of CanterburyAugustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
and his mission from Rome in 597, the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Saeberht of Essex and the establishment of new bishoprics in their kingdoms. Bede, when relating the conversion of Rædwald's son Eorpwald
Eorpwald of East Anglia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, , succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles...
in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, mentioned that Rædwald received the Christian sacraments in Kent. This happened in perhaps 604 or later, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht, who may have been his baptismal sponsor. The date of his conversion is not known, but it will have occurred after the arrival in Kent of the Gregorian mission
Gregorian mission
The Gregorian mission, sometimes known as the Augustinian mission, was the missionary endeavour sent by Pope Gregory the Great to the Anglo-Saxons in 596 AD. Headed by Augustine of Canterbury, its goal was to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. By the death of the last missionary in 653, they...
in 597: since it is claimed that Saint Augustine (who died in about 605) dedicated a church near Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
, it may have followed Saebert's conversion fairly swiftly. Rædwald's marriage to a member of the royal dynasty of Essex helped form a diplomatic alliance between the neigbouring kingdoms of East Anglia and Essex and his conversion in Kent would have affiliated him with Æthelberht, so bringing him directly into the sphere of Kent.
In East Anglia, Rædwald's conversion was not universally accepted by his household or his own queen. According to the historian Steven Plunkett, she and her pagan teachers persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to the Christian faith. As a result, he kept in the temple two altars, one being pagan and the second one dedicated to Christ. Bede, writing decades later, described how Ealdwulf of East Anglia
Ealdwulf of East Anglia
Ealdwulf or Aldwulf was an obscure King of East Anglia who reigned from 663 to around 713.Ealdwulf's reign of forty-nine years was extraordinary in length: only Ethelbald of Mercia's and Offa of Mercia's reigns are comparable...
, a grandson of Rædwald's brother Eni, recalled seeing the temple when he was a boy. The temple was located at Rendlesham, the regio of the Wuffing dynasty, according to Plunkett. Barbara Yorke explains the dual nature of the temple by suggesting that Rædwald would not have been prepared to reject his old religion and fully embrace Christianity, because this act would have been a public acknowledgment of his inferiority to Æthelberht. Rædwald's lack of commitment towards Christianity earned him the enmity of Bede as a renouncer of his faith.
Edwin's exile
Æthelfrith of Northumbria may have married Acha, who was the mother of his son Oswald (born in c. 604), according to Bede. Æthelfrith pursued her exiled brother EdwinEdwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
in an attempt to destroy him, in that way ensuring that the Bernician rulership of Northumbria would be unchallenged. Edwin found hospitality in the household of Cearl of Mercia
Cearl of Mercia
Cearl was an early king of Mercia who ruled during the early part of the 7th century, perhaps from about 606 to about 626. He is the first Mercian king mentioned by Bede in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.Cearl's ancestry is unknown...
and at a later date married Cearl's daughter. Edwin's nephew Hereric, an exile in the British kingdom of Elmet
Elmet
Elmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
, was slain there under treacherous circumstances. Edwin eventually sought the protection of Rædwald in East Anglia, where he was received willingly. Rædwald promised to protect him and Edwin lived with the king amongst his royal companions. When news of Edwin reached Æthelfrith, he sent messengers to Rædwald offering money in return for Edwin's death, but Rædwald refused to comply. Æthelfrith sent messengers a second and a third time, offering even greater gifts of silver and promising war if these were not accepted. Rædwald then weakened and promised either to kill Edwin or hand him over to ambassadors.
Edwin remained at Rædwald's court when the chance arose for him to escape to a safe country. He was then visited by a stranger who was aware of Rædwald's deliberations. The source for this story, written at Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
, stated that the stranger was Paulinus of York
Paulinus of York
Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
, a member of the Canterbury mission, who offered Edwin the hope of Rædwald's support and held out the prospect that Edwin might someday attain greater royal power than any previous English king. Paulinus was assured by Edwin that he would accept his religious teaching. His vision of Paulinus was afterwards made the means of his decision to embrace Christianity, on the condition that he survived and achieved power. If, as is supposed by some, Paulinus appeared to him in the flesh, the bishop's presence at Rædwald's court would throw some light on the king's position as regards religion.
Rædwald's pagan queen admonished him for acting in a manner dishonourable for a king by betraying his trust for the sake of money and wanting to sell his imperilled friend for gold. Once Æthelfrith's ambassadors had gone, Rædwald resolved on war.
The Battle of the River Idle
In 616 or 617, Rædwald assembled an army and marched north, accompanied by his son Rægenhere, and confronted Æthelfrith. He met him on the western boundary of the kingdom of LindseyKingdom of Lindsey
Lindsey or Linnuis is the name of a petty Anglo-Saxon kingdom, absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century.It lay between the Humber and the Wash, forming its inland boundaries from the course of the Witham and Trent rivers , and the Foss Dyke between...
, on the east bank of the River Idle
River Idle
The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source is the confluence of the River Maun and River Meden, near Markham Moor. From there, it flows north through Retford and Bawtry before entering the River Trent at Stockwith near Misterton...
. The battle was fierce and was long commemorated in the saying, ‘The river Idle was foul with the blood of Englishmen’. During the fighting, Æthelfrith and Rægenhere were both slain. Edwin then succeeded Æthelfrith as the king of Northumbria and Æthelfrith's sons were subsequently forced into exile.
A separate account of the battle, given by Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...
, stated that Rædwald's army was split into three formations, led by Rædwald, Rægenhere and Edwin. With more experienced fighters, Æthelfrith attacked in loose formation. At the sight of Rægenhere, perhaps thinking he was Edwin, Æthelfrith's men cut their way through to him and slew him. After the death of his son, Rædwald furiously breached his lines and killed Æthelfrith amid a great slaughter of the Northumbrians.
D.P. Kirby has argued that the battle was more than a clash between two kings over the treatment of an exiled nobleman, but was "part of a protracted struggle to determine the military and political leadership of the Anglian peoples" at that time.
Rædwald's imperium
Eadbald of Kent
Eadbald was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert. Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from...
. After the death of the Christian Saebert of Essex
Saebert of Essex
Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was a King of Essex , in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity....
, his three sons shared the kingdom, returning it to pagan rule, and drove out the Gregorian missionaries led by Mellitus
Mellitus
Mellitus was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission,...
. The Canterbury mission had removed to Gaul before Eadbald was brought back into the fold. During this period the only royal Christian altar in England belonged to Rædwald. By the time of his death, the mission in Kent had been fully re-established.
Rædwald's power became great enough for Bede to recognise him as the successor to the imperium of Æthelberht. Bede also called him Rex Anglorum, the 'King of the Angles', a term that Rædwald's contemporaries would have used for their overlord. It is unclear where his power was centred, or even how he established his authority over the Angles of eastern England.
By Edwin's debt of allegiance to him, Rædwald became the first foreign king to hold direct influence in Northumbria. He would have been instrumental in Edwin's secure establishment as king of both Diera and Bernicia.
The development of Gipeswic
During the first quarter of the 7th century, the quayside settlement at Gipeswic (IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
) became an important estuarine trading centre, receiving imported goods such as pottery from other trading markets situated around the coasts of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Steven Plunkett suggests that the founding of Gipeswic took place under Wuffing supervision. It took another hundred years for the settlement to develop into a town, but its beginnings can be seen as a reflection of the personal importance of Rædwald during the period of his supremacy.
The excavated grave-goods of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
at Gipeswic, including those found in burials under small barrows, were not particularly wealthy or elaborate. They lacked the strong characterization of a neighbouring late sixth century cemetery at a higher crossing of the river. One exception was a furnished grave that it has been suggested could have been that of a visitor from the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
.
Death
Rædwald is considered to have died in around 624: his death can be located only within a few years. He must have reigned for some time after Æthelberht died, in order for him to have been noted as a bretwalda. Barbara Yorke suggests that he died before Edwin converted to Christianity in 627 and also before PaulinusPaulinus
Paulinus/Paullinus is a Roman cognomen that can refer to:*Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, general who defeated BoudicaRoman consuls*Marcus Iunius Caesonius Nicomachus Anicius Faustus Paulinus, consul in 298...
became bishop of Northumbria in 625. His death is recorded twice by Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...
, in 599 and in 624, in a history that dates from the thirteenth century, but appears to include earlier annals of unknown origin and reliability. Plunkett notes that the earlier date of 599 is now taken as a mistaken reference to the death of Rædwald’s father, Tytila, and the latter date is commonly given as Rædwald’s own date of death.
He was succeeded by his pagan son Eorpwald
Eorpwald of East Anglia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, , succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles...
, who was later persuaded to adopt Christianity by Edwin of Northumbria.
Sutton Hoo
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
at the cemetery at Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge
Woodbridge
Woodbridge is the name of various places around the world:In Australia:*Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called West Midland.*Woodbridge, Tasmania.In Canada:*Woodbridge, OntarioIn the United Kingdom:*Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of...
in Suffolk. There, large mounds—which were originally much higher and more visible—can still be seen, overlooking the upper estuary of the River Deben
River Deben
The River Deben is a river in Suffolk rising in Debenham -to be precise it has two main sources but the others are mostly fields runoff then , passes through Woodbridge, turning into a tidal estuary before entering the North Sea at Felixstowe Ferry...
.
In 1939, a mound at Sutton Hoo, now known as Mound 1, was discovered to contain an Anglo-Saxon burial of unparalleled richness. The mound enclosed a ship, 27 metres (88.6 ft) long, which had seen use on the seas and had been repaired. In the centre of the ship was a chamber which contained a remarkable assemblage of jewellery and other rich grave goods, including silver bowls, drinking vessels, clothing and weaponry. One unusual item was a large 'sceptre
Sceptre
A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...
' in the form of a whetstone
Sharpening stone
Sharpening stones, water stones or whetstones are used to grind and hone the edges of steel tools and implements. Examples of items that may be sharpened with a sharpening stone include scissors, scythes, knives, razors and tools such as chisels, hand scrapers and plane blades...
, that showed no sign of previous use as a tool: it has been suggested that this was a symbol of the office of bretwalda. The gold and garnet body-equipment found with the other goods was produced for a patron who employed a goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
the equal or better than any in Europe and was designed to project an image of imperial power. The Mediterranean silverware in the grave is a unique assemblage for its period in Europe.
The magnificence of the objects, both the personal possessions and those items designed to denote the authority of the dead individual, point to the burial of a person connected with the royal court, according to Rupert Bruce-Mitford
Rupert Bruce-Mitford
Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford was a British archaeologist best known for his multi-volume publication on the Sutton Hoo ship burial....
, who regards the burial was "very likely the monument of the High King or bretwalda Raedwald". Yorke suggests that the treasures buried with the ship reflect the size of the tribute paid to Rædwald by subject kings during his period as bretwalda. Bruce-Mitford has suggested that the inclusion of bowls and spoons amongst the treasures fits with Bede's account of Raedwald's conversion: the spoons may have been a present for a convert from paganism and the bowls had Christian significance. Coins found in the burial have been dated to the 620s and the date of Rædwald’s death, though uncertain, is known to be in the mid-620s, but recent dating work on the coins had indicated that some of them date to the period 626–629, which is later than the currently accepted date for Rædwald's death. The doubt surrounding the identity of the buried man is reflected by McClure and Collins, who have commented on the 'almost non-existent' evidence for the assumption that the occupant of Mound 1 was Raedwald.
Other suggestions as candidates for the burial at Sutton Hoo include other East Anglian kings or a prestigious foreign visitor. There are alternative explanations: the grave may be that of a wealthy status-seeker, rather than a king, though Rendlesham, a known residence of the East Anglian kings, is only 4 miles away.
Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
cultural influence has been detected at Sutton Hoo: there are strong similarities in both the armour and the burial with Vendel-age finds from Sweden. Bruce-Mitford suggested that the connection is close enough to imply that the Wuffing
Wuffing
The Wuffingas were the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. It has been argued that the Wuffingas may have originated...
dynasty came from that part of Scandinavia. There are also significant differences, and exact parallels with the workmanship and style of the Sutton Hoo artefacts cannot be found elsewhere: as a result the connection is generally regarded as unproven.
Sources
Primary sourcesSecondary sources
Attribution